What A Fabulous Friday...

...when I went to bed last night I was decently happy with how May turned out. I hadn't accomplished all of the goals I had set out, BUT the month was leaps and bounds better than April. So I had no idea that June would start off with such a bang today! If this is any indication of how June is going to turn out ... let's do it!! ;)

To begin with today is Face It Friday and I got it done. I wasn't totally sure what to expect on the scale since I had taken full advantage of the three-day weekend with the wife. BUT, I did run and workout a lot so I thought I would come out even. And...

I lost 0.4 lbs and came in 0.2 lbs UNDER goal! WOO! I will take it.

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Today: Loss 0.4

Starting Weight: 217.4

Today’s Weight: 154.8

Total Lost: 62.6

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Wow! I was happy to see that as even though I had been working out a lot - I felt blah. You know what I mean? I felt sluggish and run down this week. I think the higher pollen rate had something to do with it.

But, I woke up this morning feeling good, fit and trim ... and the scale agreed!

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Did you know today is National Donut Day?

Yeah - I didn't. So when I went to get my usual Dunkins Medium French Vanilla Iced Coffee with Skim Milk and Three Equal (1 PP), they asked me if I wanted a free donut. I swear the glazed donut (my favorite) was beckoning me to take her home.

NO! Okay, in my head I screamed no, but to the woman behind the counter I calmly and rationally said "No, thank you."

I felt accomplished ... even though I came home and splurged on the pizza I didn't eat last night (but today is a new week with a new 49 weekly points so I felt okay).

After some errands and snuggling with the pups, the word went out from Sparkly Soul that I was named their Blogger of the Month for June! Woo!! I want to thank everyone that nominated me ... including myself! Yes, I owe myself a treat. ;)

But, this is such an honor. I not only love wearing their product, I love what the company stands for.

There are definitely mornings when I am feeling a little off that I can turn it around by putting on my Sparkly Soul headband ... and I start feeling fierce! :)

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I also found out that my ninth - yes ninth - Weight Watchers at work meeting will be starting this week (4 on Tuesdays, 1 on Wednesdays, 4 on Thursdays). Woo! I can't believe how much has changed in the four months I have been with Weight Watchers.

It is an amazing feeling to help people on such a personal journey...

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So June 1st, you have rocked ... and you aren't even over yet!!

I can't wait to see what the rest of the month has to offer...

April FLOUNDERS Bring May MOTIVATION

I think we all figured out that my April was NOT up to par. I would be on plan for like 3 or 4 days then go off the wagon - so to speak - for three or four days. There was no rhyme or reason to what I was doing. I let my will power take a vacation to some warm tropical location, while I ran around like someone who has their issues with food under control. THANKFULLY you all kept me more on track than I would've been. I thank you for being there while I fought to get back on track ... and failed.

Overall in April, I had a BLAST. Lots of time with good friends, good beers and good food ... but, I ended up gaining just under 2 lbs.

NOT what I had planned.

But, this is the time to buckle down and figure out how to be on plan, while being social.

I am using the month of May as a time to get "BACK TO ME" - time to focus on my needs, my health and for now, the number on the scale.

I seem to work better when having a goal or challenge in mind - I think back to how I kicked BUTT in December because of my Dynamic December challenge.

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So here is what I am looking to accomplish during #MarvelousMay:

1) #plankaday - This has been life changing for me. I am not one for crunches, especially with my back injury, so this is a great way to get some core work in without sitting and doing a bunch of crunches - I don't want to do - on the floor.

This program was started by Dr. Sherry Pagoto (@drsherrypagoto) and is open to interpretation. For me, I started with doing a 60 second forearm plank every day for a week. The next week I upped it by 5 seconds and did 65 second forearms planks every day for a week. I did 5 second increments until I could hold a forearm plank for 4 minutes - yes! I can hold a plank for 4 minutes. Ahhh, I never thought that was possible.

Once, I hit that goal I switched up my planks. Last week, I did one 2 minute forearm plank and a 1 minute side plank on both sides every day. I like to keep my core guessing each day what I will do. :)

I am going to continue to do my #plankaday every day. I am enjoying the versatility and loving the #plankaday community.

2) #back2basics - I think this is a great challenge and timely for me as I am trying to get back into the swing after flip flopping back and forth in April. I also like this challenge (started by Colleen - @tryn2bfit) because it again leaves the choice of what you focus on up to the individual. I think that is a great way to keep people's attention and driven when they are working on something extremely personal.

For me, I will be focusing on hitting all 6 of the Weight Watchers Healthy Guidelines. Every day of the month I will be sure to have my required amounts of liquids (water), fruits/veggies, vitamins, dairy, healthy oils & exercise. I am pumped.

3) #30daychip - I owe a lot of success to the man that created the #7daychip/#30daychip program: Brad Gansberg (@bradgansberg). He has been a great motivator and has gotten me back on track more times than I can count.

This is yet another great challenge that you set for yourself. I have done a few different #7daychip topics, which you can see here.

The basic premise is to do something healthy for seven consecutive days ... or if you are feeling like you want a real challenge you can go for 30 or 100 days.

For this, #30daychip (which would be my second) I am looking to track my food every day. That means: log it into Weight Watchers eTools, write it up as a food log post on my blog and Facebook/Tweet it out.

4) #100ozchallenge – This is actually the first challenge that I started on my own! I have had at times upwards of 50 people participating. Woo! I feel wicked cool. Okay, that wasn’t cool. Dammit!

Anyway, this is a pretty simple challenge: drink at least 100oz water a day. That’s it. Keep yourself hydrated during the winter months. I just saw on twitter today that “Dehydration can cause ageing & can slow down metabolism as much as 3%” – I am here to not let that happen! Stay hydrated!!

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So today is Day One, I am refocusing and getting back to my Number One Priority: ME!

What will you be doing to make May the best month of 2012 thus far and rock your own #MarvelousMe challenge?

Eating To The Clock...

I am a boredom eater. I am a grazer.

I am a sneak eater.

This are all characteristics that I have had since I was younger ... and have crept back into my routine as I temporarily moved home two months ago.

I have been battling these food tendency demons since we got back to this fare city and I think I have come up with a solution. Okay, a member in one of my meetings on Saturday gave me the idea while helping another member out.

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So a woman on Saturday was concerned about working from home and wanted to know how to tackle the ever grazing that would occur during her "work day." She asked if anyone had a suggestion on how to combat the problem.

A woman told her to act as if her desk at home was her place of work and to give herself assigned "snack breaks." I thought this was an awesome idea.

For the first time in almost a decade, I am not spending all of my time at work, where I had a much more structured eating pattern. Now, I spend more of my time either commuting between meetings or home alone with the pups ... which lead to perfect "secret snacking" time.

BUT, if I set my eating schedule the same as when I am say working 7-1:30 today when I am off until 5pm tomorrow - I could create a pattern.

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Some people call this eating to the clock. You know you always have breakfast at 9am and lunch at noon, etc. Some folks don't like this method, but for my anal retentive/OCD mind, it is comforting. I find comfort and solace in a routine. Could be why I end up eating many of the same foods day in and day out.

So this week, I am going to try and create a basic routine and try to stick with it as best I can or at least use it to curb the unexpected and unnecessary tips to the cupboard ... where all my little trigger foods are luring me to.

Well, that is the game plan for this week, there is no harm in trying a new tactic to beat the evil junk food demon. Right?

I will let you all know how it goes...

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Do you eat to the clock or can your meal planning easily change as your plans do? Please share any tips or tricks you use for success!

1000 Seconds of Planks

I really cannot believe how awesome this week has been! I am feeling truly blessed... Well the amazing week was capped off with this blog's Facebook page hitting 1,000 likes! Wow! What a cool thing to have happen. Well I had made the pledge that when it hit 1,000 likes that I would plank for 1,000 seconds ... and today it finally happened!

Thanks to my videographer (and wife) here is my first ever video post. I hope you enjoy :)

[youtube]R_K8U0UUF-4[/youtube]

"You Look Anorexic"

I have heard the above phrase uttered countless times by people who are seeing their friends drop massive amounts of weight and starting to look thin/skinny compared to their old bodies ... I have gotten this comment a handful of times as well. I wish I could get it to stop. Even though the person probably doesn't mean harm by it - although some probably are - it isn't a phrase I like to hear thrown around.

Why you might ask?

Well if you are new to the blog, I battled - and still battle today - eating disorders. I wrote a post about it back in June 2011 with more detail, but basically I either survived on nothing but crackers for months and I just "upchucked" anything that went into my stomach the rest of the time. Not healthy. Not healthy in the least. But I was losing weight. At the time my lowest was 180, but I wasn't in a good place. But, no one knew, how I was really losing weight. I just kept hearing "you are looking great" or "keep up whatever you are doing." Well, in my twisted mind that meant keep on being completely unhealthy.

But, with the help of friends, I slowly overcame that mentality. And now I am happy to be a HEALTHY 155 lbs.

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I still have to battle that little voice each day. While I was off plan the last two weeks and overeating, my immediate thought was to hit the bathroom and get rid of the problem or maybe I will just not eat my points tomorrow and it will all balance out.

Then I remembered ... that is NOT healthy. Weight Watchers has helped to teach me that each day is a new day, each meal is a new meal. I do not have to punish myself if I "slip up" one day, one week or one month. I just take my time to work it out and get back on plan.

Continuing to keep those thoughts in my head, kept me from slipping back into those bad habits recently...

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So when someone tells me I am "looking anorexic" I take complete hurt in that. I mean not everyone knew/knows I had an eating disorder, but that is another reason why you shouldn't make an offhand comment like that. YOU don't know what that person has been through in their life that they aren't sharing.

I beg of people today! Please be mindful of the comments you make to your friends who are embarking on a weightloss journey. I would love to hear people say "You are looking strong," "You are looking lean," or "You are looking healthy." Rather than going to "You are looking skinny."

Because for me ... this whole journey has been about getting to a healthy place in my life - a healthier relationship with food - a healthier spot inside and out.

So I ask people out there to please take a quick moment to think before you tell a friend "You Look Anorexic."

Truth Tuesday - 0.4 lb Loss

Hello All! Well after a two week hiatus from the scale I am back and going to remain coming back each week. I have realized I am not the type of person that can handle once a month weigh-ins. Have we figured out I am slightly OCD and very "right brained"? ;) Anywho... I got back to business this week after slacking the week before after hitting Lifetime. I had a bit of a good old food meltdown on Thursday, which kicked my smaller booty into gear! So Thursday through Monday I was ON, I mean each day I: hit all 6 of my Weight Watchers Healthy Guidelines, worked out min 30 min, hit my DPT of 26, hit 100oz of water, did my #plankaday and tracked/blogged/Tweeted/Facebook my Food Log. And can I tell you all something? I felt amazing! I felt like I had just started WW all over again. That fun feeling in the beginning where you are all bright eyed and bushy tailed and eager. I felt satisfied, accomplished and just overall in control. Now I know I am not keeping this up forever since we know I love those 49 weekly points, I mean 49 wine points, too much not to use them. But it was a little check I needed to do.

(Note: The best part of this week was that I didn't beat myself up over what happened on Thursday. I woke up the next morning and instead of beating myself up, I came up with a game plan of how to get myself back on track and stuck to it. The old me would've called myself every name under the sun and said if I messed up this day why not just say "To Hell" with the rest of the week. New me? NOPE! I said it is a NEW DAY and I moved on. I give myself a *Bravo* for that!)

And boy did it help! I lost 0.4 lbs (which doesn't seem like a lot to some people), but I am in the maintenance time of my life so that little loss was what I needed to be back to my goal weight exactly. When I hit Lifetime I was 0.4 lbs above it. I mean that is nothing, plus for WW standards I just need to remain within 153-157 lbs.

For my psyche, it just ended a streak of three-consecutive gains, which I don't think I had ever experienced before.

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Today: Loss 0.4

Starting Weight: 217.4

Today’s Weight: 155.0

Total Lost: 62.4

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The implosion on Thursday was exactly what I needed to snap my slacker self back to reality. I was slowly slipping back to old habits that had brought me to Weight Watchers in the first place and I didn't like it.

So now I am happy to be back on the upswing, each week, each day, each meal will not be perfect, but I will work to be the best I can be. :)

I have found a WW meeting of my own to attend (Tuesday 10am in Malden) and could not be happier. It is so nice to take your WW receptionist hat off for an hour and get back to why you joined in the first place - to be a member and to feel involved in the meeting.

I cannot put in to words how much happier I am now that I have my own meeting to attend and I am falling back into a nice pattern. My Tuesday has now become my favorite day of the week ... and also my "Super WW" day. How you may ask? Well, here is the rundown:

6am Spinning with my girl Jess - aka Last Chance Workout

7am Weigh-in on Home Scale

8am Weigh-in officially at WW Boston Store with Alverson

8:15am Grab my much needed Dunkin Iced Coffee ;)

10am Attend my now weekly WW meeting with Heather

Noon-3:45 Me time - blog/run errands/chill with the pups/unwind

4pm Head to work

5-8pm Work the 6pm WW meeting and open hours

How about that for a powerful/motivating/positive day?

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After chatting/emailing with my Territory Manager (Elaine) today and sitting with my WW coach (who will help me with the training to be a Leader), I just know I made the right decision this year. I feel so happy to call Weight Watchers my home. Helping, teaching, listening, cheering, consoling and motivating people in such an important and personal journey is an honor to me!

I thank you all for helping me see that! You have all given me the strength to make the Leap with your support and encouragement...

Why Keep Going?

This morning I was weighing in a Weight Watchers member who had hit the 25 lb weight loss mark. After I stopped celebrating (I get a tad too excited when it comes to milestones/charms/stickers), I asked her what her next goal was. She had no idea. She said she was at a loss for what to shoot for next since she never thought she would've hit this milestone in her journey. As she pondered what she was going to set as her next goal, I thought to myself: Why Keep Going?

When you have hit a goal in your journey, why keep pushing? Why find the set another milestone?

The obvious answer is you need another goal to keep yourself on track. If you don't set the next mark you want to hit, people tend to slide back and the commitment starts to waiver. If you don't look ahead, you could become complacent and start to slip back in to old habits, which could result in gaining the weight back.

The one that definitely gets me is: Settling for the current goal you hit and as a result forever wondering "Could I have done more?"

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For me, I hit all the big marks I wanted to hit: 25 lbs lost, 40 lbs lost, 50 lbs lost, First Goal Weight Met, 60 lbs lost, Final Goal Weight Met, Being Hired by Weight Watchers and finally Lifetime. So if I have basically hit all the major goals I strived for...

What pushes me to continue on this weightloss/fitness journey I am on?

After rereading my Out of Control post from Friday (after Thursday's binge), I took the time to think about why I keep going since I don't have a number I am pushing to see on the scale and here are some of the things I found:

1) I had major back surgery in January 2011 (herniated disc removed in my L4-L5) and the doctor said to me that the more weight I keep off my back - the less pressure will be put on the surgically repaired area and the less likely I would be to re-injure that same spot. How can the strength of my back not be the Number One reason to keep up with my healthy lifestyle...

2) Continue to work for Weight Watchers and remaining Lifetime. To stay Lifetime with WW and an employee, I need to weigh in once a month within two pounds of my goal weight (153-157). In addition, I need to be in that range to hope to one day fulfill my dream of being a WW Leader.

3) Looking at all the wonderful new clothes I have bought and wanting to continue to fit in to them. I don't like to waste money so growing out of these cute clothes would be a huge blow to how far I have come...

4) To remain an example to others currently pushing through their own weightloss journeys that with hard work and determination they too will be able to succeed. Between Twitter, Facebook and this blog, I am constantly inspired and motivated by people who are making the choice to live a healthier lifestyle and I want to continue to be a part of their journeys as well as share my own...

5) So I can continue to relish in new Non-Scale Victories...

and finally one of the biggest...

6) I hope to stay as happy as I am now for the rest of my life. For so long, I couldn't stand the body I was in. I didn't like who I was. I was hiding behind layers of protection. Now? I am one confident, ass kicking, bad ass, running fool ... and I love it! I love that I am finally starting to like ... understand ... and even love: the geeky, slightly OCD, gym rat that I am...

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When you stop to think and are at a loss for:

*why you keep getting up at 5am to hit the gym for work

*why you take the time to preplan your meals for the week

*why you stay in every once in awhile to get a good night sleep before a road race

...just think about why you keep going!

#7daychip - Number Nine

I like that I am now collecting #7daychips the way I collect race medals ;) For this chip, I made the following commitment:

1) To hit the 5 Weight Watchers Food Healthy Guidelines each day

2) To complete at least one plank per day (#plankaday)

3) To drink at least 100oz of water per day (#100ozchallenge)

4) To write down/track everything I ate each day - even if I didn't figure out the PP value, I at least had to fess up to what I ate my writing it down, blogging it & Facebook/Tweeting it.

Out Of Control...

I am indebted to my parents for allowing the wife, the pups and I to invade their home as we adjust to life in Boston and try to save money over the next five months (our game plan is to be in our own place by September), but being in someone else's house is wreaking havoc on my will power/will power/WW game plan! When Tori and I were in Chicago, we were in our own apartment and could control all food entering the house. I was able to ward off the "high point" trigger food and keep it at bay. And really? If "bad" food was brought in to the house by Tori, it wasn't something I usually wanted to eat so I was able to withhold from "attacking/binging" on it.

But, now? We are in someone else's space and living with two people who are not eating as healthy as I am. Which is leading to a lot of my trigger foods now being in my space. There are foods here - like Hershey Chocolate - that I haven't thought about eating in years, but I find myself craving them now. Now that I see them.

I know. I control what goes in to my body, but lately I have felt weak. I have been giving in to all these late night "cravings." I don't even think these are honestly cravings, but they are now creeping into my thoughts.

So I need to get control. I need to stop letting boredom - trigger foods - unhealthy habits creep back into my life. I have worked TOO hard to let anything derail me now.

Last night is a perfect case in point. Did I need to eat those chips or that chocolate at 9pm? Nope. Was it even that good? Nope. It was just because it was there ... and I have been in that cycle for the first month back in Boston.

Well, it stops today! I am taking back the control. I am getting back to basics. I am putting away the fake "cravings." I am getting recommitted to me...

Truth Tuesday - LIFETIME

After I weighed in last week, all I could think about was hitting Lifetime today. I knew I had to be focused and stay on plan. I did that ... until Friday. Friday night I had plans to go out with friends and did my prep work. I looked at the restaurant's menu (Wagamama) and did the best I could to decipher the points since they don't have their nutrition facts on the site. I picked a good sesame chicken salad and some edamame. I figured it would be filling and yummy. I felt confident when I left the house on Friday and then... ... the entire plan went out the window!

The wife and I got to the restaurant early so we had a couple beers then I checked in to the bar on Foursquare and they offered us a half-priced appetizer. Yup! I fell for it hook line and sinker! So we split an app ... then since I had a couple beers what were a few more. Needless to say that night was not one of my finest eating moments.

Not sure this happens to other people, but once I have a bad night  - the whole next day turns in to a disaster.

So Friday and Saturday were horrible. All I kept thinking was I was putting myself in the wrong direction from Lifetime. So Sunday morning I got back on track and hit the gym for an awesome Spin class with Linds and Jen. Sunday night I still went a tad over points because my wife brought this garlic ciabatta bread in to the house to have with our spaghetti squash. But, overall I called Sunday a win in my book since I worked out and got all my healthy checks in.

Monday was right on point - I worked out, hit all WW Healthy Guidelines and stuck to 26 pts.

So that brings us to this morning. I got on the scale before heading to Spin and did NOT like what I saw. I saw a number that would put me out of reach of Lifetime. I made sure to give 150% during Spin and thankfully my friend Jess (the instructor) delivered with an awesome class. I got home and did my usual home weigh-in before the actual WW weigh-in. Well I saw a better number after Spin, but still not one that I liked.

But, you all know when I weigh in so there was no way I could skip out. I just had to face the music. My wife came with me for moral support and to act as photog if I hit Lifetime. I stepped on the scale and ... I took a deep breathe and prayed to see a number between 153-157 ...

I gained 0.6 lbs. That's it. Phew! That put me at 155.4 lbs - just 0.4 lbs over my goal weight - and in perfect position for LIFETIME!!

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Today: Gain 0.6

Starting Weight: 217.4

Today’s Weight: 155.4

Total Lost: 62.0

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OMG! OMG! I did it. I honest and truly made it to the moment I dreamed about on November 2, 2009. The moment I thought would never be in my realm of possibility on that first night of Weight Watchers. But, you know what? I did do it. I stuck with it.

I MADE IT HAPPEN!

I love this smile and am happy it hasn't left my face yet today...

I told my Territory Manager Elaine that I wanted to create my own "Biggest Loser Finale" type moment when I hit Lifetime status. Thankfully she approved and that is how the above happened. :) I am wicked happy that I decided to go this route and bring my own confetti to the weigh-in.

Lifetime means more to me than hitting Goal. I proved to myself that I could maintain a weight within my goal weight for six weeks - even with a 1,000 mile move, career change and basically a complete change in my life.

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This morning really made me think back to this journey and how I don't even recognize the person I was when I first stepped in to my Weight Watchers meeting on November 2, 2009. I was a sad - lonely - unhappy - and scared person. I was able to put on quite a front to the outside world, but inside was a whole different person.

But now? Now I see the good. I see the happiness in life. I am proud of the person I have become. I am happy with the person I am now. I have shown myself - and others - that I can accomplish anything I put my mind to. I am stronger than I thought I was. I am a fighter. I am a success story.

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Today, I am living in the moment and enjoying all of my accomplishments. But, what will come tomorrow? Tomorrow I will continue to keep my eye on the new prize ... maintaining! Now that I have reached this milestone, I vow not to return to old habits. For me, this time - the weight loss will stick. There is no going back.

Thankfully, I have one incredible support system - in person, through social media and within my new Weight Watchers work family - that will continue to motivate and push me towards success.

I may falter. I may fall off the healthy lifestyle/Weight Watchers wagon at times ... but thankfully every one of you will be there to pick me back up and put me back on track. And for that, I thank you all. You have all touched my journey in a positive light and for that I am eternally grateful.

I am reminding myself today - and every day - that I am human. I am not perfect. But, picking myself up and never looking back, will allow me to keep succeeding.

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So today, I relish in my accomplishment. I will allow myself to flood in the compliments and love being thrown at me from all directions. I am bottling it all up to keep with me on the dark days. I am saying to myself...